Both good amps but I wouldnt say tthe Arcam is a better amp......just a different presentaion which generally is personal!

Yes I know, just giving my opinion. Yes you are correct they are different, WHF picked the Arcam A19 as group winner in this month WHF mag, which did not inc. the Rega. The Rega was best amp last year under £500, the Roksan was best amp. under £1000 in 2011. The only way is to hear them, preferrably at home with your speakers.

No worries!

I think the reason the Rega wasnt included as It was amps up to £800 wasnt it? Just goes to show you really need to hear amps & speakers yourself and see what you orefer!

In an ideal world get a demo at home!

And I wouldnt take WHF reviews as gospel!

Only your ears matter!

Yes that is true, pity they did not compare the Rega and Creek rather than some of the Japanese ones.

If you can get the Audiolab for £500 that is a good deal but its your ears that should decide, I thought the Audiolab was good but did not hear at same dealer as Rega and Arcam so hard to compare.

haha! no disrespect taken. The sherwood has been a great starter and introduction into the hifi world. With my new speakers and cd player even it sounds incredible at times. I know though from listening to other amps before i got the new cd player that other amps are in completel new stratospheres these days. I have heard the rega and the audiolab, and have heard a cambridge 351a. All sounded very good, my preference being the rega i think. Mostly probably for its tonality. Piano music sounded so lifelike. And Chris Martin could have been in the room when listening to Parachutes. That and the positive comments here are what draw me to the rega. Although the cambridge may not have been as tonally accurate maybe, it was very lively, i wouldnt say harsh (although i only listended to it for 2 hours) and its soundstage was very good. Before i buy the rega if thats where this leads, i need to fashion some kind of hifi unit to house it and stand the cd player on. this will have to be hand made, and with no carpentry skills, and having found today the local b&q had closed down, may take some time.

Thanks to everyone who has inputted into thius thread for me. All opinions are really appreciated.

as well as the speakers sensitivity, the arcam amp was new out of the box, opened in front of me, and only had 2 hours max to warm up before i went back for audition. This probably wouldnt have helped too much either. Rightly or wrongly, it turned me off the amp. (hopefully though going by WHF, it wouldnt be too compatible with my spekaers anyway).

I have considered the roksan kandy absolutely. A cracking amp by all accounts, and my local richer sounds had one playing last time i went in and it definitely sounded ok on the busy shop floor. Unfortunately though it is def out of my budget. On the plus side, it's one less alternative to think about.

From what I know&read about these Dynaudio soundwise they should play well with all of the 3 amps, and yes[!] including the Cambridge.

Nothing different at all than Audiolab IMO. (and many other reviewers on the EU-continent and abroad) :wave:

If you like the same looks, tone control and shared remote than the Cambridge is for you.

If you just want the simplicity and more refined sound go with the Rega.

No worries, enjoy.

My experiences for new amp....

When I had sold my Arcam surround-receiver a few years ago I was going for a stereo-amp. I had a Cambridge 340a once before and connected to some Tannoy's from the 90's and later on to a set of Monitor Audio Silver1, now that was just an awful 'in yer face' sound but the Tannoy where fine. Then I thought I might like a new Exposure a1010 with my new KEF iQ5se, well that was no good unfortunaly the bass was really overblown like there was a 'loudness button' turned on. So replaced it with the 350A and everything sounded just perfect, music ànd movies.

Yeah, hifi corner in edinburgh is closing down, but even before that the guy said he could do me a 8200a for £500. I might have even been able to haggle more. I guess he knew they were closing down as only a few days later the sale signs went up.

Yeah, hifi corner in edinburgh is closing down, but even before that the guy said he could do me a 8200a for £500. I might have even been able to haggle more. I guess he knew they were closing down as only a few days later the sale signs went up.

IF you play your music at low levels the Audiolab 8200 is a superb amp - seriously, it sounds stunning at low levels - it also as an amazing headphone stage, the best I've heard on any amp/cd player and I was using an old pair of Beyerdynamic DT231's its also one of the best looking amps on the market in its gun metal grey/black colours

Problems do start when you turn it up - it peeks at around 9 o'clock then starts to fall apart in that it sounds disjointed (on this I agree with the WHF review) not heard the others but with this amp try in your own set up before you buy.

Well....I went into the shop today for i think the 3rd demo of the brio-r, and walked out with one!

I was a little unsure as i was auditioning both the rega and the nad 326. I was totally impressed with the nad, more so than other other amps (especially due to price) that i had auditoned. It seemed to have a little more bass weight than the rega, but less detail and precision. However as the auditon went on...for about an our and a half, the regas bass weight seemed to improve.Possibly due to not being turned on before the audition. So i nervously went for the rega. Once home and unboxed, and all plugged in....again..nervously...i listened to how it sounded in my room. It sounded even better than in the demo, and this was strtaight out of the box! I have a small room (about 4x5m) and the bass weight was imediately more present, and i only had to turn the volume to 8 or 9 oclock, where in the larger demo room, the amp really only sounded good at over 10 oclock.at 8 oclock, i could barely hear it. i am currently listening to it at 8 oclock and it sounds incredible.

I'm super happy. Well done and thanks to Rega. this is a great amp.....if it gets better as it wears in as many say it does...it's going to be a belter. (although it really already is).

I definitely made the right choice in amps, as this has the clarity and detail, pace AND now the bass weight.

Yes! Stoked!!

:bounce: :grin:

I am just as happy at not having to worry anymore about which amp, as i have been reading everything on this amp for 6 months. Phew!

Oh...and thanks to all who have helped with me making a choice. All comments have been really helpful.